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Eric Bana Sets His Sights On Echelon

Every big name actor needs a franchise to fall back on. It’s part of Hollywood’s “one for me and one for you” mentality. If you star in a string of flops, you need a way of showing that you still have what it takes to put bums on seats. It would appear that one-time Hulk star, Eric Bana maybe maneuvering to land his own action franchise.

Bana is said to be circling the lead role in Echelon, a potential movie series based on books featuring the character Nick Stone written by a former member of the SAS, Andy McNab.

Hyde Park Entertainment bought the screen rights to the twelve novels a few months ago and writer/producer John Connor has been working on the script since then. The books are said to be similar to the Jason Bourne novels and the film (which is based on the book Firewall) will follow Stone as he attempts to foil a gang of terrorists who are trying to gain access to the world’s largest computer intelligence database.

No director is in place yet and Bana also has a few other potential roles that he could take – but he seems to be a good fit for the material. The Australian star was able to pull off playing the bad-ass as part of special forces units in Black Hawk Down and Munich, so it’s clear that he has the chops to realistically play this sort of role.

Choosing Echelon would also help to cement Bana’s standing in Hollywood. While he is a well respected actor, he hasn’t really connected with audiences, and at times it appears that Hollywood doesn’t really know what to do with him – placing him in a variety of roles like Lucky You and The Time Traveller’s Wife which haven’t really propelled him onto the A-list. Even Bana’s tenure as The (Incredible) Hulk left Hollywood and audiences indifferent. That's not to say that he hasn't been in hits as he's starred in Troy and Star Trek, but these films wouldn't really be classified as Bana's movies.

Echelon could be the movie that gives Bana the mass exposure and creative freedom to put a stamp on his career. With James Bondin limbo and the Bourneseries at an apparent end now, it might be a time to introduce a new ass-kicking agent to the world – and Nick Stone might just be that man.